


simply barbaric

by Engineer104



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claude muses, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Race Issues, can be viewed platonically tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26285005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: Almyrans are barbaric, at least in Fodlan’s estimation, but Claude still thinks it’s worth trying to change one person’s mind.Ingrid is his chosen victim.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	simply barbaric

**Author's Note:**

> this topic is sort of...very personal to me for reasons. also everything is relative, in the end
> 
> warning for mentions of Miklan and things he does. what an upstanding guy

It was early in summer, yet Claude already danced on thin ice. 

“But really, Ingrid, what is it about Almyra that th—we call barbaric where it’s Fodlan that produces people like Miklan?”

Ingrid threw a sour look at him over her shoulder, perhaps annoyed with him for speaking to her while she unsaddled her Pegasus while he just stood outside the stall, or annoyed with him for speaking to her at all. Yet he couldn’t help picking her brain. He didn’t dare broach this topic with any of his own classmates when the Alliance bore Almyra so much ill. 

As far as Claude could tell there was no reason to think anyone from Faerghus or Adrestia hated Almyrans the same, even if people from Faerghus could be more...fanatical. Well, from a few moons’ observation the only Blue Lions he would call any degree of fanatical were Dimitri (what was his problem? One mystery to be solved), Felix (did he ever leave the training grounds?), and Annette (always studying or doing one chore or another).

Not Ingrid though, not really, except for a rather unfortunate devotion to her house leader that made it impossible to recruit her to the Golden Deer. 

Or maybe she just didn’t like Claude. She was certainly fanatical about reminding him of that when it mattered. 

Ingrid drew a curry comb across her Pegasus’ mane while Claude propped his arms on the stall door. “Why...are you asking me this?” she wondered. 

“Because I value my survival too much to ask Sylvain,” Claude replied, which was true but not the whole of it. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he offered her a smile and said, “Indulge me, if you will.”

“ _ Indulge _ you?” she scoffed before shrugging. “Fine. I guess it’s how Almyra just...raids the Alliance?”

“Ah, right, of course,” Claude said, nodding as if in agreement. “Just like Miklan in - where did he set himself up again? I wasn’t listening to Teach when she debriefed us, and Faerghus’ geography still confuses me.”

Ingrid’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, and his heart skipped a beat. Perhaps the ice cracked under his feet and she’d accuse him at any moment. 

But she just sighed and said, “He’s in northern Fraldarius.”

“Not his father’s lands? Huh.” Claude stared at his nails, frowning at the dirt caked under them. “Anyway, so we’ve established that Miklan raids Fraldarius territory, which is decidedly land that’s not his, just like Almyra invades the Alliance. What else?”

“Well, Almyra seems to just...wreak havoc,” Ingrid explained. “From what I understand, they’re not seeking to take any land and settle, just cause mayhem.”

“Right you are, my friend,” Claude told her, snapping his fingers. 

“Friend?” Ingrid echoed in a voice dripping doubt. 

He grinned at her, and maybe this smile touched his eyes. “Sure, why not? So Almyra wreaks havoc...but wouldn’t you say Miklan does the same?”

“I...suppose,” Ingrid said. “What are you getting at, Claude?”

“Oh, and let’s not forget to highlight any of Miklan’s other misdeed,” Claude continued, ignoring her. “He kidnaps women, he steals a Hero’s Relic directly from his powerful father, he does all manner of...terrible, awful, violent things with only the most malicious of intent.”

Ingrid stared at him from over her Pegasus’ back, a dark cloud seeming to pass over her downcast face. Belatedly he remembered she was friends with Sylvain, maybe she knew better than almost anyone else at this narrow-minded little Academy what evil Miklan was capable of.

Yet Claude couldn’t quit when he was so close to making his point.

“Based on all this,” he said, “would you agree that Miklan is...barbaric, perhaps even more than Almyra?”

Ingrid stroked her Pegasus’ white wing with a frown, and Claude’s heart pounded in anticipation of her answer. He wanted her to understand - it shocked him how much he did - and the wait could kill him. 

“I would agree,” Ingrid said at last, nodding, “but maybe someone from the Alliance wouldn’t.”

Claude released a breath and let an easy smile curl his lips. “I’m working on them,” he assured her. He rested his chin on his folded arms and sighed before muttering too low for her to hear, “One day they’ll all change their minds.”

**Author's Note:**

> this topic probably deserves more than a tiny drabble but hope you liked!


End file.
